


Sounds Fair, Flyboy

by Itsnotwren



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 15:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13192824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsnotwren/pseuds/Itsnotwren
Summary: Leia has a bit of an outrageous request, and the pilot/mechanic duo are only slightly regretting saying yes.





	Sounds Fair, Flyboy

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first work ever. It started out as just a story I wrote when I was bored just to see if I could write it and then I figured I might as well throw it up here.

All was chaotic back at base. Pilots, engineers and ground soldiers alike were sprinting around, trying to get everything situated before their attack. There were at least three that weren’t running. Poe and Y/N were standing still as Leia was pacing, trying to figure out how to give the two of them such a big project.   
“General, whatever it is that you want us to do, we’ll get it done.” Y/N said, making Leia stop with her back turned to the two.  
“Will you promise me that?” She asked as she turned around.   
“We promise, but we can’t get started unless you tell us what you need.” Leia took a deep breath.   
“I need an engine. One that has enough power to get Poe into the enemy lines and fast enough to get him there before the First Order can process what is going on and attack the planet. Unfortunately enough for us, we don’t have anything of this caliber.” She pointed towards Y/N's chest. “I need you to make it and build it into Poe’s ship before the attack.” Poe looked more stunned than Y/N. She was staring blankly at Leia while biting her thumb. She was already planning out how to do it.   
“You expect us to make a new engine in two hours that is more powerful than anything else we have?” Poe asked. “It’s impo-”   
“It’s not impossible.” Y/N said in a monotone voice. She looked up into Leia’s stress-filled eyes. “I can do it.”  
“How? How do you plan to build this thing in two hours and have it be safe enough for me to use?” Poe said, raising his voice. He thought the request was ridiculous.   
“I’ll explain on the way. I’m going to have to tear apart at least two X-wings, can I take from the extras in the hangar?” Leia walked forward and Y/N's shoulders in her hands.  
“Take and do whatever you need, but I need it working before lift off.”   
“Done.” Y/N said as she started walking towards the tarmac. “Poe, I’m going to need your help.” She called over her shoulder, while he was frozen in place. He followed her outside, at her heels.   
“Y/N, how the hell do you plan to do this?” Poe said as he grabbed her upper arm and pulling her to a stop.   
“I’m going to build a new Zena gas tank into your X-wing, tear apart the engines of two others, combine them, hook them up to the new gas tank and we should be fine. But I’m going to need your help to pull this whole thing together.”   
“There’s no way we can pull this off in two hours. I’m the optimist out of the two of us and I’m saying that it’s impossible.” Poe said.   
“Poe, look at me.” Y/N said. “I know that you’re used to being commander of the pilots and being in charge of everything. I get it, I completely get it. What I need for you is for the next,” She took a second to look at her watch. “Two hours and seventeen minutes, you need to just roll with me. I don’t know how we’re going to pull this off in two hours, but so long as you listen to what I say, we can do this.” She said almost too fast for Poe to comprehend.   
“So you agree that this whole thing is crazy, right?” He asked after hesitating for a moment.   
“It’s nuts! Are you kidding me?”   
“If you thought it was nuts why did you say yes to Leia?”   
“How was I supposed to say no? You don’t just say no to the General!”   
“You could have, I’m sure that she would have understood!”   
“Well, you know what, it’s too late anyway.” She looked at her watch again. “And we’re already down to two hours and sixteen minutes! We gotta get started. I’m going to go to hangar 4 and get started at taking those two X-wings apart, you need to bring yours to that hangar so we can start figuring out how to do this.”   
“On it. I’ll be there in a minute.” And with that, the two broke into dead sprints in different directions. 

At the half hour mark, Y/N was silently priding herself on not freaking out too much. The two of them had ripped the two engines apart. Y/N was working on combining the two engines while Poe was trying to build the Zena gas tank from the old, beaten up instructions that Y/N had given him. He had no idea how to build one of them, while Y/N knew how by heart, but she had decided that she would be responsible for the experimental engineering in the form of the two engines. They were both working at a furious pace. 

They two of them worked very differently under pressure. Y/N stayed quiet, trapped in her own little world until the job was done. She almost never realized that people were present or even talking to her unless they touch her or do something with what she was focusing on. Poe was the polar opposite. When he was stressed, he had a tendency to talk to himself. His talking was almost constant, but was quiet enough to only mildly drive people crazy. In this case, Poe was reading all the instructions to himself under his breath which Y/N didn’t even notice. The instruction packet was less of a packet and more like a book. Needless to say, it would take a while. But Y/N could finish whatever Poe didn’t in less than ten minutes, so she wasn’t too concerned about him. 

By the hour mark, Y/N's hands were black with soot from the engines. It’s only been a few months since they were used, how could they be so dirty from doing nothing? A few pilots and their mechanics dropped intending to ask if they wanted help, but quickly realized that they would most likely be more harm than help. They had more things to do regarding themselves and getting ready for take off. And the pair ignored them, on top of everything. Poe was almost done with the gas tank, proud of how fast he was working. However, it was nothing compared to how Y/N was working. The only way that Poe could describe it was like a machine, he was too distracted to come up with a better word for it. On the bright side, the engine was beginning to take form. The main shape of it was down with very messy welds, but she would fix it before they actually put the thing on Poe’s ship. She was attaching all of the pipes that lead the gas to the engine. It would have to go on the outside of the ship, but she would make sure that it was sealed nice and tight. Poe had to be finished soon for the engine to work. 

By the hour and a half mark, they were working through a pretty major setback. Poe had skipped a step in assembling the tank. Y/N had to start making the gas tank at almost square one. She tried to assure Poe that it wasn’t that big of a deal, he felt that he had ruined the entire engine and that it wouldn’t be finished in time.   
In attempt to make up for his small, yet huge mistake by taking all the armor and extra plating on his X-wing to make room for the engine that he had inadvertently thrown onto Y/N's shoulders. She was almost done with the tank, flying through the steps at a speed that Poe could never have accomplished. They were almost there. 

Y/N had to finish the engine by herself at the twenty minute mark. Poe had to leave for the briefing with the rest of the pilots. She finished the gas tank, connected the engine and the tank, did a few tests to make sure that everything was compatible. All was working well for the time being. All she had to do was insert everything, set up the secondary ignition for the new gas tank, explain everything to Poe, and he’ll be on his way.   
By the time Poe came back at the ten minute mark, Y/N was almost done. She was welding the exterior armor plating of the X-wing together. Poe was relieved to see his X-wing was looking like an X-wing again.   
“Ah, Poe. Lovely to see you again. We’re almost done. I just need to hook up the ignition to somewhere and we should be good to go.”   
“Great. I talked with the communication team, do you think that you can explain everything to me on the way there?”   
“It would be easier to give you a crash course now and get into all the details later, if that’s alright.”  
“Sure, is there anything I can do?”   
“Actually yes, go into the cockpit and find a button attached to a wire leading into the engine.” Poe practically threw himself into the cockpit, having to pull himself up without a ladder anywhere nearby.   
“Alright, got it.” He said holding up a little red button attached to a small stick with a wire leading back, just like she said.   
“Okay, that’s your secondary ignition button. The way that this is set up is that when you’re going to use the new engine, everything is going to stall for a couple seconds to accommodate for the shift of power to the new engines. It’ll only last a second but when it turns back on, it’s going to shoot off a lot faster than you’ll think it will. So, you know the drill when it comes to going way too fast. Overcompensate for every movement you do.”   
“You know, you talk really fast when you get stressed.” Poe pointed out.   
“I do, don’t I? Anyway, you got all that?”   
“Press the button, everything shuts down, turns back on, and I hopefully go very fast and don’t get blown up.” He said as he was fastening the button onto the side of the joystick with some electrical tape that he always carried around.   
“I'm fairly certain that you won't get blown up. All you gotta do is have a little bit of faith in me.”   
“I always have faith in you. I just hope that I won’t screw this up somehow.”   
“Worrying isn’t very much like you, Poe.”   
“Yeah, I know.”   
“Well, for what it’s worth, I have quite a bit of faith in you. Is the button all set?”   
“Yep, all we have to do is pray that the tape holds and all should be well.”   
“Okay,” Y/N said with a sigh as she slid off of the side of the hull. “I think you’re all set.” Poe was sitting in the cockpit already in his full gear, ready for action, but not quite ready to say goodbye. “Hey Poe?” She asked as she stood next to Poe, a few feet below on the ground. “Please be careful.” Y/N said after hesitating for a moment.   
“Be careful?” He asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Damn! With a moment of tension like that I was hoping for a good luck kiss!” Y/N rolled her eyes at that.   
“I’ll kiss you if you come back in one piece!” She called over the roaring engines.   
“I’ll hold you to that!” Poe said with a wink as he threw his helmet on. 

\-----------------------------------------------

The morning after the attack was beautiful. The sunrise gave the whole base a warm yellow glow and it was just warm enough to not wear a jacket. Jess had met her as she was waking up and told her that Poe wanted to see her in hangar 4. Y/N was a bit nervous considering how little detail he gave Jess, but she was eager to see him and ask how the mission went. She opened the side door of the hangar and attempted to turn the lights on but they were on already. At least nobody had to see her accidental strobe light show. Nobody except for Poe, who was looking over his ship in the middle of the hangar.   
“Go-od morning, engie.” Poe said with genuine happiness in his voice.   
“Morning, flyboy.” Poe remained at the ship, letting Y/N walk the whole distance. “What the hell happened to your head?” She asked as she got close enough to notice the bandage on his forehead.   
“I believed you when you said that the whole ship was going to shut down. What I didn’t anticipate, though, was the fact that while it shut down it also stopped dead in its tracks. I got flung forwards aand,” He reached into the cockpit and pulled out his helmet. “There were some unexpected complications.” Poe handed over the helmet to her. Y/N took it in her hands and was blown away by the huge crack in outside armor which spread into the face shield.   
“How did you even do this? Aren’t these designed for this not to happen?” Y/N asked.  
“Yeah,” Poe said, scratching the back of neck as Y/N turned it over in her hands. “They kind of are.”  
“I’m so sorry about this.”  
“Hardly any need for you to apologize, didn’t have all that much to do with you.” Poe said as she handed the helmet back to him and he threw it into the cockpit. “How about we compromise and just say that it was both of our faults.”  
“That’s fair.” Y/N admitted. “But showing me this and making me feel bad wasn’t why you called me down here, was it?”   
“Not quite.” Poe admitted, leaning against the hull of the fighter. “Tell me, do you remember what you said to me before I flew off.”   
“I remember telling you to be careful.”  
“You tell me to be careful every time I leave, which I appreciate, but that wasn’t quite it.”   
“I should remember this but I’m drawing a blank.”   
“You said,” Poe said, pointing his finger towards her. “That you would give me a kiss if I came back in one piece. And do you remember what I told you after that?” Y/N pursed her lips as her words of last night came flooding back into her memory.   
“You would hold me to it.” Poe’s signature smirk grew across his face.   
“So here I am,” He dramatically opened his arms. “Holding you to it.” Y/N let out a loud groan as she rubbed her temples with a bit of regret.  
“Damn, I was hoping that you were going to forget that.”   
“You expected me to forget the best mechanic in the Resistance offering to kiss me? Never in my life.”   
“But you didn’t even come back in one piece!” Y/N pointed out.   
“That’s actually not true. None of my bones were broken, all I’ve got is a mild concussion. So if we’re talking technicalities, I came home in one piece.” Y/N let out a sigh of defeat. He was right. And even if he wasn’t, he’s so stubborn that he would hold her to her promise no matter what.   
“You’re so full of it.” She said quietly.   
“The only thing I’m filled with is love for you.” Poe said sarcastically and placed a hand on his chest. “Also anticipation if you actually want someone to walk in on us.” His sentence was almost cut short by Y/N's lips gently pressing against his. Before he could even react, she pulled away, only leaving him wanting more.   
“There’s your belated good luck kiss. Happy?” She asked.   
“What? No! That was hardly a good luck kiss.”  
“What?”  
“Y/N, I could have died on that mission. Kiss me like I’m going to die!" It took a second for her to fully process what he wanted but you could tell that she understood. With a roll of her eyes she grabbed the collar of his jacket with both hands and pulled him forward towards her. This really took Poe by surprise. He didn’t actually expect her to follow through with it, but god, did he need a surprise like that. It did give him a bit of heartache, because it felt like she meant it. Like she was kissing him as if his life depended on it. After a moment, his hands wrapped around her waist under her jacket, pulling her flush against him. Y/N pulled back but Poe was having none of it, whose arm moved up and hooked around the back of her neck to keep her in place. Her hands had shifted from having a death grip on his collar to having her open palms on his chest, resting under the seams of his jacket. The two eventually pulled apart with their lips making a rather loud smacking sound that seemed to echo around the hangar.   
They were both out of breath, hearing their heartbeats in their ears clear as day. There was a moment of silence, with tension that seemed impossible to cut through.   
“Be careful?” Y/N whispered. They both let out small laughs. Poe released his death grip on her waist and neck and walked to the other side of his ship.   
“Well that was certainly something. Gotta be honest, I wasn’t sure that you were going to go all out like that. One thing, though.” He said.  
“What’s that?”   
“Next time we do whatever this is, I’m the one in charge.”   
“Cocky and dominant? A recipe for disaster, if you ask me.”  
“Y/N those are literally my only two personality traits. You should know this by now.”   
“So you say there’s going to be a next time?”   
“Oh hell yeah, this was great. I’m not just going to give all of that up and have this be a one-off. And we’re practically conjoined at the hip anyway. But you know what I think?” He asked and waited for Y/N's response.   
“I’m sure that even if I don’t answer you’ll tell me anyway.” It was as if Poe didn’t even hear her.  
“I think, and this is totally up for debate, that we make whatever this was a little pre-mission tradition between the two of us.”   
“Aw, what? Just the two of us? I was hoping to get Snap involved in all this.” Y/N said, it was her turn to be sarcastic now. Poe’s head popped up from the other side of the wing that Y/N was leaning against.   
“Absolutely not. Because A) You deserve better than Snap and B) There is no way in hell that I’m sharing you with him.” Y/N let out a scoff.  
“Sounds fair, flyboy.”


End file.
